“There is an incredible need for educational and after-school opportunities for the students in these communities.”– Wadley

Steve Wadley | Founder

An Atlantan, Steve Wadley grew up in the Buckhead area. He majored in Finance at The University of Georgia. Though he is technically retired, he’s far from slowed down. Now he’s using his time to give back and make a difference in the city that he’s always called home. While playing Pop Warner football, he noticed that teams in underserved communities did not have the resources necessary to give their kids an opportunity to succeed. “ It wasn’t a fair fight. Unfortunately, 50 years later nothing has changed.” He never forgot experience and through Think Local Atlanta is offering fellow Atlantans a chance to give back so that no child denied the same chance at success as others due to a lack of resources.

The untimely passing of his son, Nick, a few years ago, inspired Steve to act on what he knew was right. Shortly after Nick’s death Steve read an article about the Atlanta Music Project. With his own son having been a musician, he was inspired by the organization’s commitment to providing music education to students in underserved communities. Wanting to enhance the outreach of the Atlanta Music Project (AMP), Steve joined the board of AMP in 2013. “There is an incredible need for educational and after-school opportunities for the students in these communities. Soon after he joined the board of the Kindezi Schools, serving over 1500 kids in inner city Atlanta on three campuses. The idea for Think Local Atlanta was born. “These two organizations are well positioned and well run to enable our youth to have an opportunity to succeed. The beauty of supporting these well-established institutions is that everything is in place so the money we raise goes directly to expanding the reach and supplementing the efforts that they already provide.”

Think Local Atlanta has chosen these two extraordinary organizations to begin to raise awareness, fund critical programs and create volunteer opportunities to provide our Atlanta youth with the same chance to succeed regardless of where they live. “ Our goal is to not only to give all of Atlanta a chance to contribute to the development of our youth, but we also will monitor the programs we fund to make sure that we can squeeze out every drop of opportunity. Volunteers, including retired educators make this possible.” In doing so, Think Local hopes to engage people of all ages and backgrounds to help others and showcase how in the end, it benefits everyone.

For as little as 10 cents a day, Think Local is not asking donors to break the bank to make a difference but know that if everyone gives a little that there is so much more that the whole community will get back in return. Think Local Atlanta is more than just a donation, but an investment in the future of Atlanta. We believe the future of Atlanta can be very bright. “It’s time that we give all our kids a chance to have the same opportunities that we had growing up.”

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